ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?
by Chick Feed
Summary: Closing the gates on Hell? It's a mistake. Dean really needs Sam to recognise this too. ... Spoiler Alert for Season 8


**A.N. Wrote this simply for something to do. Having recently completed a lonnnggg multi chapter fic, my typing finger had begun suffering withdrawal! Triggered by the whole ****_closing the gates to Hell_**** thing.****_ Chick xx - _**SPOILER ALERT : SEASON 8

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**ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?**

_Closing the door on Hell? It's a mistake. Dean really needs Sam to recognise this too._

Dean was sick of it. Sick of watching his brother fall apart. Sick of what this was taking out of Sam. Sick of the cost to Sam. There had _always_ been a price, and they had both paid it, time and time again. _Well...Enough!_

_..._

Once again Dean emptied the waste bin full of tissues that were sodden with his younger brother's blood. Sam had been walking over to Dean carrying two mugs of coffee when, with no warning whatsoever, blood had erupted from Sam's nose and begun streaming down his chin, dripping onto his white tee and splattering into the fresh coffee. Dean had jumped up to take the coffees out of Sam's hands. He'd grabbed a box of tissues whilst Sam sat down, leaning forward, head bowed, pinching the ridge of his nose in an attempt to stem the flow, as an ever growing pool of fresh blood formed on the floor between Sam's feet.

...

If Dean hadn't already found out about the physical effects the trials had on his brother, there would be no way for Sam to have continued to hide it from him by now. If it wasn't the nose bleeds, Sam was coughing up blood. If not either of those, then he puked blood. Sam was tired, he looked pale, anaemic, and Dean was going to put an end to this whole pile of crap, _today_!...Just as soon as Sam woke up from his nap.

...

The door to Sam's bedroom opened. Turning, Dean smiled at the sight of his giant baby brother, dressed in his sleep joggers and a faded old tee, wandering groggily towards him. His hair was tangled and mussed, a bed head product advertiser's dream, made worse by Sam scratching over his head, whilst yawning like a gaping chasm. His face and eyes were still soft from sleep, making him look for a moment like the young college kid he had once been. _So many centuries_ _ago._

"Coffee's ready. How're you feelin'?"

Eye's fixed on the mug being held out to him by Dean, Sam grunted.

"M'ok. Tired is all."

Dean nodded.

"Not really surprisin'. You hungry? Want some toast or somethin?"

"Nah...just this, thanks."

Dean hovered, waiting for Sam to sit himself down at the dining table, watching as he blew onto the coffee before taking a tentative sip then, happy his drink wasn't too hot, swallowed half the content of the mug.

"Top up?"

Sam glanced down into his mug.

"Yeah...Please."

...

Dean waited until his back was towards his brother, re-filling Sam's coffee, before he spoke.

"Sam...I...er...I think we need to talk, _seriously_."

When Dean turned, Sam was gazing at him, his expression wary.

"Dean, if it's about the trials..."

Dean sighed and went to sit at the table, opposite his brother.

"Sam...Hear me out, that's all I'm askin'...Ok?"

Sam shrugged his shoulders in consent.

"Ok...I'm listenin'. What?"

...

Now that he had his brother's attention, Dean hesitated. He wanted to get this right, needed to convince Sam it wasn't just about the blood, about the impact on his health, about the fact that it should've been him..._not_ Sam...who had taken up the challenge.

"Dean? I said I'm listenin' bro."

"Yeah...Ok. So, it _is_ about the trials..."

Dean held his hand up as Sam opened his mouth to butt in."

"Sammy, you said you were listenin', so listen, _please_?...Good...See, thing is, I've been givin' this whole thing some thought, ever since Cas...Well, you know...Anyway, there's somethin' been botherin' me...Aside from the whole blood gushing little brother, should've been me thing, I mean."

Surprised, Sam looked more closely at his brother. Whatever was on Dean's mind, he could see in Dean's eyes that he was desperate for Sam to hear him, to understand, to consider. Sam leaned a little further forward, signalling that Dean had his undivided attention.

"Ok...Well, I'm startin' to think that maybe closing the gates on Hell isn't such a good deal. That we shouldn't be doin' it even..._At all_."

...

Sam's eyebrows raised and he sat back in his chair, startled.

"_Phew!..._Well...Ok. _Now_ I'm curious...Why not?"

Permission given, and knowing that he _definitely_ had Sam's attention, Dean gave voice to his thoughts.

"Well, first, if there's a way to shut out Hell, why hasn't God done it already, huh? Why turn it into a damn near impossible task for anyone _else_ to do it? It's almost as if you're being _punished_ because you've managed to get this far. Like God wants us to quit, or he'll kill you...There's somethin' else too. Imagine we do it, we close the gates to Hell and, somehow, you survive and you even get to stay on _this_ side of the gates...What's goin' to happen to the souls from then on?"

"Sorry? Souls?"

"Yeah Sammy. People's souls when they die...Sure, the good ones'll get to go to heaven...But what about the others? The souls of all those evil bastards out there. Where are _they_ going' to go?"

Sam stared across the table at Dean, thoughts and images colliding in his mind. They'd been so sure, they'd been so certain this was the right thing to do, but... Dean saw that his words had made an impact, and it was with a sense of relief that he saw the new seed of uncertainty, reflecting in Sam's eyes.

"They won't _have_ anywhere to go Sammy. Understand? With the gates locked, they'll all be stuck here, on this level...with us. Here we've been, all this time thinkin' that shutting Hell down will solve all our problems in one hit when, really? I'm thinkin' things could very well get _so_ much worse around here. I mean, we could go out an' burn some serial killer's bones 'cos his spirit is keepin' the hobby goin'; only now we _still_ not got rid of his evil ghost, 'cos you an' me? We've closed the gates of Hell.._.forever_. Somehow, I don't think that would turn us into heroes in the eyes of all the good people out there...Do you?"

...

When Sam didn't answer, Dean pushed on.

"Then there's all the other stuff Sammy, things that won't go away just 'cos a gate's been closed, things that'll still be here, still killing people, an' that'll still need huntin'. I dunno, Werewolves, Wendigo, Witches...you name it! Anything that's not a demon, that's walking around out there right now, monsters that live and breath and feed. Locking those gates won't get rid of those kinds of creatures, you know? And if we go out an' gank them? All we'll do is set their souls free. Understand?"

Sam could see that Dean was waiting for some kind of response. For a while Sam stared thoughtfully at his coffee whilst he slowley turned the mug round and around where it sat on the table's surface. Dean grew impatient, needing to know what Sam was thinking.

"Sam?"

Letting out a long breath, Sam raised his head and met his brother's gaze.

"So, you think we should quit? And that if we carry on, and end up closin' the gate on Hell, we might find ourselves with huge dollops of the brown and stinky hitting one mighty big fan?"

Dean gave a small smile.

"Imagery aside? Yeah. I'd say that about sums it up."

"But we don't know for sure?"

A small frown appeared on Dean's face.

"Well, no. We don't know for _sure..._How the Hell could we? But I've given it a lot of thought, an' I'm as sure as I _can_ be, that we shouldn't do this Sammy. If we go ahead, I'm tellin' you, it's gonna come back an' bite us in the ass. I'm askin' you to back off Sam. Ok?"

"I hear you, but I don't know if I agree with you. A big part of me still says it's the right thing to do. I've got a shot at shuttin' down Hell; I'm not certain I can walk away from that."

Bottom line Sammy? I think maybe us humans _need_ both of them...We need Heaven..._and _we need_ Hell_. I'm askin' you to back off Sam... to stop. We can't do this, we _shouldn't_ do it. I _really_ need you to be with me on this Sammy, _please_! I'm askin' you not to do the final trial, it's a mistake, it's wrong. it's not how things should be. And Sammy? There's somethin' I _really_ need you to understand baby brother...I love you. I love you more than anything or anyone else on this _planet;_ always will! But, I'm honestly _certain_ closing Hell is wrong an'...Look, _Sammy_...If you decide you're goin' ahead with this, alone...Then I'm sorry, but I need you to know this; if that happens? Then, brother, I'm gonna have to _make_ you stop."

**xxxxxxxxXXXxxxxxxxx**

**_A.N. Reviews are like hugs, and I _****like****_ hugs :D_**

**_Chick xxx_**


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